what he sees as a sense of crisis. the secretary-general warned about conflicts in the middle east, religious intolerance and climate change. he sounded the alarm about what he called the direction of the human family. >> my action agenda highlights five imperatives as i have set out in january of this year, stainable development, prevention, building a more secure world. hemming countries in transition and empowering women and youth. >> ban expressed his concerns about the rising number of casualties in the civil war in syria and he shared his frustrations about the widening gap between the rich and the poor in countries around the world. ban called on world leaders to promote policies that improve lives. he said people want to see results now and not in the distant future. u.s. president barack obama challenged world leaders to

stand up against violence against americans. he said his government had nothing to do with a film made in the u.s. that ridicules the prophet mohammad. >> i have made it clear the united states had nothing to do with this video. it is an insult to muslims but america as well, that i have witnessed after nearly four years as president. i remain ever hopeful all right world that we live in. the war in iraq is over. american troops have come home. al qaeda's been weakened. and osama bin laden is no more. >> obama took the podium six weeks before the u.s. presidential election. he spent much of his time defending his record on foreign policy. to coincide with the open egg ofhe general asell blame, british charity has released a video report on children in syria who are suffering from the escalating violence.

many syrian children are haunted by the memory of seeing family members killed in front of their eyes. they have observed children becoming overaggressive. some have injured themselves due to severe psychological wounds. they say a school in the syrian capital, damascus, was bombed on tuesday and children's lives are at risk. the video report shows children sheltering in tents at a refug camp in jordan after fleeing the devastation. >> even telling us of children being tortured in prison, little children, 10 years old, having their fingernails pulled out, their fingers cut off this is appalling you and has to stop now. >> save the children has leased a video with an appeal for global support. syria is expected to be a major topic at the u.n. general assembly. members of japan's main

opposition party are choosing a new president. organizers of the liberal democratic party expect a runoff contest in the election for the first time in 40 years. five canned at that times are campaigning to win a majority out of 498 ballots. 198 votes are allocated to ldp lawmakers. the other 300 to party members. former prim mine officer shinzo abe, schilling gather row ishiba and ishihara are splitting most of the votes. ishii ba is likely to gain support among voters but less likely among lawmakers. abe is second place, gaining support from a group close to party leader tanagaki. ishihara is in third. if none of the five candidates wins a majority you the top two will head into a runoff.

taiwanese fishermen he docked back in their home ports, froex the purchase of the senkaku islands in the east china saturday taiwan and china claim the territory. the fishermen entered japanese waters around the islands on tuesday. japanese coast guard officers say about 60 taiwanese fishing boats and 12 patrol vessels sailed into the area. the fishing boats returned to their ports. the crews were welcomed with fireworks on their arrival. the area surrounding the eye law and sass traditional fishing ground and they were protecting their right to survive, they said. the senior official with the liaison with taiwan met with timothy yang in taipei. he explained that the purchase was aimed the achieving stable control and management of the islands. yang reiterated the taiwanese position. he failed to agree and they both failed to agree on a schedule

for resuming talks on fishing rights. japan's defense minister has played host to his counterpart from australia even as heeals with the crisis in the east china sea. morimoto and steven smith agreed on the need to tight maritime security and cooperate with their u.s. allies. >> we were able to come up with a constructive aim in building up japan, australia relations toward defense cooperation. >> morimoto said japanese authorities have been struggling to respond to chinese and taiwanese vessels approaching the territory. he said he and his colleagues are seeking twice maintain stable ties. smith said australian officials hope for a peaceful and legal solution. >> australia's contribution in this area is to make the following points, which is we don't take sides in these

disputes but absolutely essential that these matters resolved am mick cabbly, in accordance with international law and the law of the sea. >> smith promised australian diplomats would urge china to be a positive constructive member of the international community. china brought its first aircraft carrier into service amid tensions with japan. president hu jintao, when gentleman boo and others attend the event. the aircraft carrier is named "lianang." they bought it from the ukraine 14 years ago it has been refurbished and had navigation trials last year. wen said commissioning the aircraft car an important step to modernizing the nave and i have enhancing the country's overall strength. observers stay is likely to increase regional concern over china's naval capability.

people at the bank of japan are busy crunching you the numbers for a business survey. yuko fusion she ma joins us. how is it look? >> the central bank won't release their survey until next week but analysts are already forecasting -- coming out with their forecast and business sentiment among major japanese manufacturers is expected to worsen due to the fact of a global economic slow down. 13 private institutes gave their forecast ahead of the bank of japan's quarterly survey to be released on october 1st. all 13 institutes forecast a decline in sentiment compared to the survey conducted three months ago. their predictions for the key index range from minus 3 to minus 6. the average is mine his 3.8. these figures are worse than the previous survey which came in minus one. the expect deed klein in sentiment is due to the sustained strong yen and

economic slow down in china and other countries much the down turn will a adversely affect china's production and exports a drop in domestic auto sales is cited as another negative factor. looking ahead at the next three months, 11 of 13 research institutes predict a further deterioration in business sentiment. they say the global economic downturn will likely continue, cooling relations between japan and china are also expected to have a negive imct o corporate activities. let's get a check on the markets now. market he is were mixed on tuesday with japanese stocks posting gains and u.s. stocks posting hefty losses. for details, we are joined by our business reporter at the tokyo stock exchange. how are things looking this morn? >> the nikkei average broke below the key 9,000 mark at the owe. the first time in almost two weeks that the bench mark index fell below that psychologically important mark.

having a look at opening levels, nikkei down 1.5%. pretty hefty losses there the topics down, down about 1.6% so far. overnight in new york, the dow jones industrial average fell for a third straight session. it was down three quarters of one percent and the tech-heavy nasdaq that index, bigger losses, down 1.4% on the day. those falls have a lot to do with investors taking profits before the quarter comes to an end. now, one company that became a major drag on the market was caterpillar, the heavy equipmentmaker. it slashed its profit outlook on monday, citing a sluggish global economy. and there is concern more companies could follow suit. it wasn't all bad news on wall street. we actually got some pretty positive economic numbers. now, u.s. consumer confidence rose to its highest level in seven months in the month of

september. we got housing data, housing prices rose at a faster than expected pace in the month of july. getting mixed signals about the stift u.s. and the global economy and will continue toe a major focus for investors worldwide. ate of the u.s. and l economy and will continue to be a major focus for investors worldwide. here in tokyo, investors will take a wait and see stance, moves driven by external fact to including europe's debt problems and overnight falls on wall street. now, spain is preparing a new round of austerity measures this week for the next fiscal budget. that is going to be a major focus. >> here in japan, we have the main opposition liberal democratic party's presidential election today. is that expected to effect the stock market? >> analysts are expecting it to be a factor for date because candidates have driven different views on the role of the bank of japan and its independence. now you the results could affect

and that may affect the stock market here in tokyo. speaking of currencies, the yen was pretty much unchanged against the dollar in europe, having a look at the levels, dollar yen quoted at 7772 to 77 and euro yen is changing hands a the 7 to 29 w, we saw some dollar buying after the those positive u.s. economic data but moves were actually quite limited. now, uncertainty surrounding europe's debt woes kept many dealers on the sidelines. however, it was a slightly different story for euro/yen. those jitters actually worked in favor of the japanese currency as a save haven. wither about 11 minute into trading, seeing pretty hefty losses here in tokyo. >> thanks, young guy. you a small firm in tokyo built an ecofriendly car that runs on both hydrogen and gasoline. it was built from a regular gasoline-powered car, equipped a

hydrogen tank, a fuel injerked and chrome mechanism for running on hydrogen and gasoline. hydrogen emits no carbon dioxide when burned as fuel. the car uses gasoline only for sudden acceleration. it cuts co 2 emission buys 75%. the car can run 150 kilometers on one tank of hydrogen and 500 kilometers when gasoline is also used. at presents it costs $64,000 to remod al regular car but the company aims to cut the cost to less than one-tenth of this amount. they begin mass production in three years. that is all for me for this hour. i will leave you with the market figures.

people stayed behind to help after the fukushima daiichi disaster. but one man stayed behind to help and now his health is failing. >> reporter: this clinic sees

100 patients a day. for weeks after the earthquake, it was the only one helping women to give birth. >> translator: it's okay. it's okay. >> reporter: this is dr. takahashi, he is 73 years old. he has been healing the sick in this community for 43 years. >> translator: i depend on him. he is the reason i'm in good condition today. >> translator: he is such a kind man. you rarely find a doctor like him. >> reporter: dr. takahashi has terminal cancer. a tumor was discovered in his colon in may of last year d has now spread to his liver and lungs. his body is weak. he gets winded just going to visit patients on the second floor. >> translator: this is the mission for the final stage of my life.

i'm ready to die here any time. i have given myself this challenge. >> reporter: dr. takahashi's determination is borne from last year's disaster. working at the city's mourrgue after the tsunami, he witnessed the tragic toll on human lives. >> the victims looked like they were desperately trying to keep their heads above water, but then were hit by wood and other debris floating below the surface. they suffered bone fractures in their legs and spines. it was really terrible. >> reporter: dr. takahashi set himself a final mission. he rolved to devote the rest of his life to caring for people in the disaster area. >> translator: even though i am in the last stage of cancer, i will still be here tomorrow.

that's why i can help patients. >> reporter: keeping the clinic going is part of that mission. last month, he began looking for someone to take his place. this doctor responded to his recruitment notice. she has a private practice near tokyo. >> translator: i wanted to help him because i thought his situation is so desperate, but i feel bad because i can't be here full time. i will do what i can. >> reporter: she has her own patients to look after and has been here only two times. no other doctors have responded. the clinic continues to depend on its veteran caregiver. dr. takahashi says it's the children who keep him going.

>> translator: you've gotten so big. look what you can do. >> reporter: the doctor has posted messages on the clinic's website. they are addressed to the children of the area. "you bring us hope for the future. i hope you will always take pride in what you do. hold your heads high. best of luck." dr. takahashi knows he will eventually lose his own battle against illness. for the sake of his patients, his work continues. people in japan's northeast are focused on overcoming the challenges of the 2011 disaster, but it won't be easy. they have to rebuild home he s, businesses, entire communities. we will show you their struggles anthei scess on "the road

ahead" every wednesday at 1 p.m. on "newsline." people looking for a new home in a new land seem undeterred by the dangers. several boats loaded with asylum vehicles sunk in the last several months on the journey to australia. another ran into trouble on saturday off the coast of java, indonesia. rescuers saved 50 people. 40 people are still missing. reuters says 49 passengers were on board the leaking wooden boat when it was struck by a large wave. indonesian emergency services received reports about a stranded boat on monday from local fishermen. the police dispatched a local team to the island.

>> translator: the boat was stranded on the island. the passengers took shelter in the forest after the boat began to take on water. >> almost 1,000 asylum seekers that died trying to reach australia. officials with the united nations refugee agency says they received 12,000 such people last year. australia authorities are working on a plan to reopen offshore detention centers. they hope to deter seekers by sending them to neighboring countries. vietnam and the united states were enemies during the 1960s and '70s. but 37 years after the vietnam war ended, they're finding some shared goals, such as cotering the ri of china. e bales of the past remain fresh in many people's minds. so a diary returned to the family of a north vietnamese soldier has taken on special significance. nhk world's akiko ichihara reports reports from hanoi.

>> reporter: duong was killed in 1966 during the battle with american forces. he wrote a diary about his life on the front line and in the jungle. for years, the diary was in the position of a former u.s. marine. but last week it was handed over to his son by an official from vietnam's defense ministry. >> translator: this is so precious to us. we're grateful to the american soldier who kept it for so many years. >> reporter: it is part of the personal memento that finally reached his family 46 years after he died. they visited his grave to tell him the news. u.s. secretary of defense, leon

panetta, personally handed part of the diary to his counterpart when he visited vietnam in june. faced with china's regional ambition, the united states is shifting its focus to asia. vietnam borders china to the north and has a 3,000 kilometer long coastline facing the south china sea. for washington, it's an important potential ally. state-run television and other media in vietnam reported the return of the diary as headline news. they touted it as a sign of improving ties between the former enemies. vietnam is at odds with china

over sovereignty of the south china sea. it needs to bolster ties with the united states to counter its giant neighbor. but many individual vietmese still feel some stility tords eric the vernnt faces a challenge to change the feelings of the past to help its modern foreign policy goals. akiko ichihara, nhk world, hanoi. people in the philippines are dealing with heavy rain and high tide waters dealing with a typhoon that is strengthening. we are joined with the latest. >> the typhoon has been hovering over the philippine sea the past several day continuously bringing stormy conditions across the philippines. right now, a violent typhoon, sustained wind are at nearly 200 kilometers per hour with gusts about 285. so a very powerful typhoon.

the atmospheric pressure could drop below 960 heck ta paschals. if it does so it would be the strongest typhoon of the year so far t could get close to or move through northern luzon by thursday afternoon local time as a violent storm. and then move up toward the north t could hit taiwan or the islands later this week or the weekend. so, stormy conditions are on the cards here. in terms of rainfall, moore tha 350 millimeters of rain is likely in northern parts of lunz the next 72 hours or so that certainly cause -- that is certainly enough to cause flooding as well as land slides. and after that, it could -- rainfall could hit eastern parts of taiwan and then we have another tropical activity. this is tropical storm that could impact quite soon. the islands will feel the affect of the storm with very rough

seas, strong winds and heavy rain from today. maybe waves could reach eight meters. theossibility of it making landfall in central japan is quite low, but it could enhance the frontal line that would be lying over central japan from tomorrow, so heavy rain is likely from thursday afternoon into friday in central japan, including tokyo. for today, dry across much of japan. yesterday, gusts like a tornado ripped through southern who can died dough, damaged structures, and things are clearing up, that is good news. temperatures are looking like this warminging up to 26 in kyo. out towardthe west, looking chillier in ulaanbaatar, only 8 degrees expected today. all right, moving into the americas, we have got hurricane miriam. miriam continues to weaken, now a category 1 hurricane. swells will be going across baja, california, peninsula, as well as parts of the west coast of mexico. and it's starting to produce

intensifying showers across western mexico and parts of the baja, california, peninsula. good news, it is going to move over the waters the next several days. as for the rest of new york america, a couple of high-pressure systems are bringing dry conditions but in between that we have severe thunderstorms rumble egg from the texas panhandle up into indiana as well as kentucky. temperatures are quite seasonal to the north of the front, 21 degrees expected in chicago. moving into europe then, not much change since yesterday. wet and windy out toward the west and very quiet in the east. but things are looking quiet, clearing up across the northern half of the british isles so that's good news. temperatures remaining on the cooler side in london, 15 degrees expected on your wednesday. 18 in paris. out toward the east, heating up to 35 in athens. here is your extended forecast.

and that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. wherever you're watching us, have a great rest of the day. 6

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captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> woodruff: at the united nations today, president obama condemned violence in the muslim world, and he told world leaders time is running out to resolve differences over iran's nuclear program. good evening. i'm judy woodruff. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. on the newshour tonight, we get reaction to the president's speech from margaret warner in new york. >> woodruff: and we assess the administration's foreign policy as mitt romney criticizes the president for the